Third-generation Allman Orion joins father’s band onstage

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. — History was made recently when Orion Gregory Allman made his stage debut, playing a Hammond B3 organ just like his grandfather, and late Allman Brothers Band co-founder, Gregg Allman.

“My son has played piano since he was a little guy, but to see him getting mentored by John Ginty on the same instrument my dad was famous for — the Hammond B3 organ — was just such a trip,” Orion Allman’s father, Devon Allman, said. “I thought he was just getting some tips, but he took the pro tips and then learned one of our songs on the spot and sat in with the band for the first time. It just blew my mind. Mind blown. Heart full. The road truly goes on forever.”

Orion Allman made his stage debut with The Allman Betts Band on “Pale Horse Rider.”

The Allman Betts Band are wrapping up a headlining East Coast tour and gearing up for the “Spirit of the South Tour” with Blackberry Smoke. All news and up-to-date tour information can be found at allmanbettsband.com.

When The Allman Betts Band released “Down to the River” in June of 2019, the debut album represented not only the first time the group had recorded together but, in fact, the first time the seven-piece ensemble had ever played together.

If “Down to the River” was the sound of the band’s combustible sparks igniting, then “Bless Your Heart” is their bonfire, built for the summer of 2020 and beyond; a double-album follow-up fueled by road-forged camaraderie and telepathic musical intensity, vibrantly reflecting the individual and collective experiences of these seven, all drawing inspiration from the band’s symbolic hometown — a place Devon Allman calls “the United States of Americana.”

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